The invention relates generally to wireless digital access systems and, more specifically, to data compression for wireless digital access systems.
In the past, data compression techniques, for example such techniques as those described in ITU CCITT Recommendation V.42 bis, which is incorporated by reference into the present application, were applied between two modems to increase throughput between the two modems. Even with the recent growth in wireless communications, the existing paradigm has been maintained as illustrated in FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system of the prior art for providing communication using data compression. Mobile station 101 is coupled via radio frequency (RF) communication link 109 to base station controller 102. Base station controller 102 is coupled via coupling 110 to control processor 104 of interworking unit (IWU) 103. Control processor 104 is coupled via coupling 111 to modem 105 of IWU 103. Modem 105 is coupled via coupling 112 to base station controller 102. Base station controller 102 is coupled via coupling 113 to network 106. Network 106 is coupled via coupling 114 to landline modem 107. Landline modem 107 is coupled via coupling 115 to server 108.
A data compression session is established between landline modem 107 and modem 105 of IWU 103. A separate data compression session utilizing different compression parameters is established between mobile station 101 and control processor 104 of IWU 103. Thus, control processor 104 is required to perform computationally intensive data compression and decompression of the data being communicated with mobile station 101. A control processor 104 is typically coupled to approximately 20 modems 105. Consequently, control processor 104 may be burdened not only with the computationally intensive data compression and decompression for one mobile station 101, but potentially with the data compression and decompression for approximately 20 mobile stations 101. Such conditions can easily overwhelm the available processing power of control processor 104. While simple point-to-point communication systems have benefited from data compression in the past, more complex systems, such as that illustrated in FIG. 1, have not been able to achieve the same level of performance. There has been a long-felt, but unsatisfied, need to provide a technique capable of providing substantial improvements in performance to such more complex systems. Thus, a method and apparatus for optimizing data compression in a wireless digital access system is needed.